Jiang Chen had his principles.
If these people hadn't targeted him, he wouldn't have gone after them. After all, though they were scheming bunch, when it came to real strength, Jiang Chen truly didn't think much of them.
Unfortunately, these fellows were each cunning as ghosts and utterly self-serving. They had actually joined forces to go after Jiang Chen himself.
Now that things had progressed to this point, there was no way Jiang Chen would spare their lives.
With a sweep of his hand, the petals of the Ice Lotus spread wide open and directly devoured the three who were still putting up a dying struggle.
Jiang Chen watched the scene unfold with an expressionless face, not a single ripple of emotion stirring in his heart. The world of martial cultivation was simply this cruel. If he showed mercy and let these people go, once they made it out and returned to their sects, there would be no shortage of follow-up trouble.
Jiang Chen never liked making extra problems for himself or tying himself up in knots.
Mu Gaoqi stared at the scene, speechless for a long while, suddenly at a complete loss.
Jiang Chen's dominance and strength left Mu Gaoqi feeling an invisible pressure. He knew that inviting Jiang Chen along had been to his advantage.
But he hadn't expected that by this point, everyone else would be dead.
"Gaoqi, do you think I should have let them go?" Jiang Chen suddenly asked with a smile.
Mu Gaoqi stammered, unsure how to respond.
Mu Gaoqi was timid by nature. The fact that he had cultivated to this level was entirely thanks to piling up pills—he had never been through any brutal trials of killing and combat.
So, he had only a shallow understanding of the jungle law where the strong prey on the weak.
"Gaoqi, if you don't have that kind of awareness, you'd best stay away from adventures like this in the future. This sort of trial isn't suited for you."
Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh and gazed forward. "Let's move."
As he spoke, Jiang Chen's figure shot forward, already at the cliff face. He observed the area for a while, confirmed there was nothing suspicious around that strange plant, and only then plucked it.
Jiang Chen's words struck Mu Gaoqi like the toll of a morning bell, setting off towering waves in his heart.
Looking back on everything they had been through, Mu Gaoqi had to admit that he had been far too naive. He had thought that by providing pills, everyone would treat him fairly and work together with him to explore the Wood Spirit Spring.
In reality, the world was the world—it hadn't played out according to his fantasies at all.
If he hadn't invited Jiang Chen this time, in the best-case scenario, Mu Gaoqi would have been blocked out by the rest. If he had insisted on following them in, he would certainly have been killed.
Before even entering the cave, Feng Wanjian had blocked the way and the people of the Great Sacred Hall had backed him up.
Later, once inside, the people from the Carefree Sect had long been lying in ambush, launching sneak attacks from the shadows. If Jiang Chen hadn't pulled him to walk in the rear, with Mu Gaoqi's cultivation level, he would certainly have been the first one taken out by hidden weapons.
When they reached the magma zone, Yue Pan of the Great Sacred Hall had even launched a covert attack.
Without Jiang Chen, Mu Gaoqi wouldn't have made it past the magma zone at all. If his luck was bad, he'd have ended up falling in and being fed to those magma monsters.
And as for this cavern zone—if not for Jiang Chen, would Mu Gaoqi's fate have been any better than Lin Feng's or Feng Wanjian's? Obviously not!
The moment this thought struck him, enlightenment suddenly dawned on Mu Gaoqi.
"The jianghu is dangerous, the jianghu is dangerous. Back at the sect, the elders kept drilling this into us. It's a pity that I, Mu Gaoqi, was too naive. I always thought that with my extraordinary talent in alchemy, others would have to beg for my help and curry favor with me. I never expected that once the Wood Spirit Spring was involved, every ugly facet of human nature would come pouring out. If not for Brother Jiang Chen, I probably would have died three or four times over by now."
No words were as convincing as harsh reality.
Having reached this epiphany, Mu Gaoqi finally let go of the burden in his heart and called out, "Brother Jiang Chen, wait for me!"
With everyone else wiped out, only Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi remained.
The path ahead was one Mu Gaoqi hadn't explored on his last visit either, so they could only press forward cautiously.
Fortunately, Mu Gaoqi possessed a Wood Spirit Constitution and could pick up faint traces of the Wood Spirit Spring. Following these traces, the two of them ventured deeper.
This ancient cavern stretched down like a legendary bottomless pit.
The deeper Jiang Chen went, the more clearly he could sense that this cavern must have been an extraordinary place in the ancient era.
The further down they descended, the sharper both Jiang Chen's and Mu Gaoqi's perceptions became.
"We should be getting close!" Mu Gaoqi said with some excitement, his voice full of agitation.
Jiang Chen held up a hand in a hushing gesture. "Gaoqi, use spiritual sense to communicate. This is a natural spiritual ground—powerful creatures could easily be living here. If you carry on shouting like that, you'll wake something up."
Mu Gaoqi flushed crimson, embarrassed beyond words. His experience in the field really was lacking—he couldn't hold himself together over the slightest thing.
"Brother Jiang Chen, have you sensed any danger?" Mu Gaoqi asked through spiritual sense.
Jiang Chen wasn't sure if he was being paranoid. Everyone who had entered the cave had already been eliminated. Yet his intuition kept whispering that a threat lingered, unresolved.
"Better safe than sorry, Gaoqi. The closer we get to our destination, the more dangerous things become."
Jiang Chen slowed his pace and expanded his spiritual sense to the fullest, scrutinizing every blade of grass and every tree around them. The two wound through an endless black corridor, and then, suddenly, around a bend, a patch of soft green luminescence fell before their eyes.
"We're here."
They rounded the corner, and the view before them opened up dramatically.
Hidden within this underground world was a natural lake, like a brilliant emerald gemstone set into the endless darkness.
The lake's surface was as smooth and still as a mirror, its jade-green waters pure as emerald. A gentle mist rose from it, thick with spiritual energy, enough to enchant the mind and captivate the soul.